Chapter 113
As long as there are enough outposts on the island, and the leader's identity remains a secret, Class B's final gains won't be too bad.
"How many outposts did your Class B find on the ship?"
Instead of answering Koenji immediately, Aragaki Shun suddenly asked this question.
"Seven, how about yours?"
"I am eleven."
After they finished speaking, they both looked at Ryuen Kakeru.
The tyrant of Class C snorted and casually gave a number—6.
As for Class D, judging from their bewildered expressions, don't expect them to gain anything on the deck.
"What? You can find a base while still on the ship? I've never heard of that before!"
As expected, this was the first reaction of Class D when they came to their senses, Ryuen, who was in a bad mood, didn't hold back in mocking them:
"What a bunch of idiots! The school's announcements warned us before we even got to the island; your brains are like those of unevolved monkeys."
The school suggested they see the meaningful scenery, and even made a point of circling the island before docking... Were they just bored and had nothing better to do?
Aragaki Shun shook his head. After the homeroom teachers finished explaining the supplementary rules, Akito should understand just how important the school's reminder was.
Observing the island from the ship from an outsider's perspective, the more obvious outposts are almost all visible. Just look for traces of human intervention and observe where the vegetation is sparse.
After all, the school needs to provide enough space for a class of forty students to set up a suitable camp.
"The score for this Uninhabited Island Exam is mainly divided into three parts: 300 temporary points provided by the school, points earned from capturing strongholds, and points earned from guessing the leader."
"To put it bluntly, this Special Exam was definitely a perk deliberately given by the school. There were only bonus points, no negative points, and even withdrawal wasn't punished."
"Based on information provided by upperclassmen, this type of Special Exam, which is considered a perk, is usually only held during the freshmen's first summer vacation. Therefore, I hope to maximize the benefits of this exam and snatch all the points I can from the school."
With his arms crossed, Aragaki Shun smiled and announced his plans.
Since the school is being so generous, they naturally can't leave without giving something in return.
"The first step is to exchange all the temporary points in Class D for supplies. Classes A, B, and C will each receive 100 points. Try to retain all the temporary points, which will bring the total to 900 points."
"Then comes the second stage. There are 11 relatively obvious strongholds on the island. If we add the hidden ones, let's say there are 20. If we max out the stronghold points, we can get about 380 points."
"The last part is guessing the leader. The leaders of classes A, B, and C cannot be guessed, but someone from Class D can stay and become the leader. If all three classes guess once, the score is 150 points."
In other words, if all the points for this exam were allocated to one class, the final winner would likely receive 1430 points or even more.
Upon hearing what Aragaki Shun called the optimal solution and understanding its value, everyone present gasped in astonishment.
Currently, Class A's Class Evaluation Points is only 1360 points. It's unbelievable that the school issued such an outrageous score for just one Special Exam.
Mashima Tomoya, "..."
Is it possible that the most outrageous thing is that the Leader of Class A, who has already taken control of the first-year students after just one semester?
In previous years, every freshman class was still in a state of fierce competition during the summer vacation of their first year. Even the Class C and Class D had not lost hope of making progress, after all, this was only the first Special Exam.
The school did allocate a lot of points, but without a powerful figure like Aragaki Shun to coordinate, how could the four classes possibly work together to secure all those benefits?
Putting everything else aside, just figuring out how to divide the spoils, and who will be the first class to be sacrificed... If this issue isn't resolved, even the best possible solution is useless.
The Chie Hoshinomiya teacher of Class B hesitated several times before finally saying nothing, only secretly envying Hoshinomiya Chie's luck.
If it weren't for an unexpected incident, this kind of student would never have been assigned to the original Class B in the first place.
"How about it? Although I'll be taking most of the Private Points, all three classes (A, B, and C) will gain at least 350 Class Evaluation Points. Don't you think this is practically a gift from the school?"
Looking towards the stunned Class D members, Aragaki Shun smiled.
If all four first-grade classes work together, everything will be alright as long as Class D is willing to be the sacrifice.
Katsuragi took a deep breath and reluctantly stepped forward to ask, "How many Private Points does Class B have left? And what about Class D' s supplies?"
He didn't want to agree to the plan, but he had no choice. It was worse than having the entire class disqualify from the exam because of a student's rule violation.
It was barely acceptable for Aragaki Shun to eat meat while the other classes only had soup.
"I will provide Class B with supplies worth 100 temporary points. After the exam, Class B will need to give me 250 points, and I will receive 1 million Private Points per month."
Knowing it was time to divide the cake, the Leader of Class A didn't hesitate and immediately offered his own distribution plan.
"Then Class D will sell the remaining 100 temporary points to Class C. You can negotiate the price yourselves. At the same time, Class C will also give me 150 points, which is 600,000 Private Points per month."
If this plan succeeds, Class A will gain at least 350 Class Evaluation Points after the exams, earning 1.6 million Private Points per month.
Classes B and C also benefit, as they each gain 350 Class Evaluation Points. After giving the majority of the Private Points to Aragaki Shun, each of them will still receive an additional 10,000 yen in living expenses per month.
Finally, there's Class D. Although they don't receive Class Evaluation Points, they get a living allowance from Class C and don't have to stay on the island to suffer, which is a good thing, no matter how you look at it.
"Wait, because of Sakayanagi, our Class B's initial temporary points were deducted by 30 points. This allocation method is unreasonable."
With a slight frown, Katsuragi pointed out the problem in Aragaki Shun's words.
"Class B will likely only get 320 points in the end, and the supplies purchased with 100 temporary points may not be enough for us to live here for seven days. What if we need to use our Private Points for other places later?"
Aragaki Shun smiled, not caring about such a small detail, and casually explained, "When I was scouting the outposts on the ship, I saw that the school had set up all sorts of resources on them. As long as all the outposts are maxed out and all those resources are used effectively, 100 temporary points will definitely be enough."
"Also, Koenji, didn't you want to challenge me? Let's have a match during this base-clearing phase. I'll allow both Class B and Class C to freely compete for base points. The final result will be determined by our strength."
Advanced Nurturing would not allow for the emergence of a second Miyabi Nagumo, so Aragaki Shun decided to leave some hope of resistance for the three lower-ranked classes instead of forcibly unifying the first year and ending the exams as soon as they began.
During the temporary point counting and leader guessing phases, he did not allow any objections, but he allowed more freedom in scoring outposts, giving the other two classes some room to maneuver.
In other words, Aragaki Shun forcibly changed the format of this exam, turning it into a pure card-swiping competition.
This is his answer sheet; it's unclear what the school will think...
182. The Cabin under the cliff; Ryuen prepares for the supremacy of force.
Due to the "demolition effect," in order to avoid being forced to withdraw from the exam by an insider from the very beginning, Class B and Class C ultimately agreed to Aragaki Shun's method of dividing the cake.
After negotiating all the details, all four first-year classes signed several agreements regarding the Uninhabited Island Exam under the notarization of Mashima Tomoya.
These included prohibiting classes A, B, and C from guessing each other's leaders; Horikita Suzune volunteering to become the leader of Class D, which would increase the score of each of the three classes by 50 points; and Class C purchasing the remaining 100 temporary points from Class D at a price of 10,000 Private Points per person per month...
With the agreement signed, the overall situation is set. From a holistic perspective, all four first-grade classes will profit, just to varying degrees.
However, most of the Private Points will flow into Class A, which is a terrifying gain of more than 1,000 Class Evaluation Points. Both Ryuen and Katsuragi are extremely concerned about this.
On the contrary, the carefree students in Class D only muttered a few complaints before forgetting about their unhappiness and running off to play in the water with great interest.
Even though they didn't keep a single one of the 300 temporary points, didn't they still get some living expenses from Class C?
To be optimistic, this money is practically free; you're not losing out at all.
"Then I'll be the leader of Class B," Koenji Rokusuke announced his name to the Class B homeroom teacher. While waiting for the Key Card to be made, he unusually put down the mirror he was holding and started warming up. "Aragaki boy, you're the leader of Class A, right? Let's see who can grab more base points after the exam."
"Of course it's me," Aragaki Shun nodded. "I have to run across the island three times a day; I'm the only one in the class with that kind of stamina."
After observing the physical abilities displayed by Koenji during his warm-up, the Leader of Class A was certain that, among all first-year students, Koenji's physical fitness was definitely among the top three, if not the second.
It's hard to say who's stronger between him and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, since they've never had a formal match.
Turning his attention to Class C, Aragaki Shun asked directly, "Ryuen, who are you planning to appoint as leader? Yamada Albert is probably the strongest in Class C, but capturing more strongholds requires more than just physical ability."
The school's supplementary rules emphasized that leaders cannot be replaced without a valid reason.
But for an ordinary person to travel across the island 19 times in seven days would be an unimaginable strain on their body, making it easy to find a legitimate reason to withdraw from the exam.
With this supplementary rule in place, if classes A, B, and C choose to guess the leader, they will only lose 30 temporary points each due to the change of leader.
Therefore, Aragaki Shun simply used an agreement to prohibit the guessing games between the three classes.
In this situation, it wouldn't be presumptuous for him to directly ask who the leader of Class C was, since they wouldn't be able to hide it after they started seizing control of the stronghold.
"Hmph! Of course, I'll personally go up and play with you!" Ryuen Kakeru sneered, turned around, and led the rest of Class C away from Class B's gathering place. "Just wait and see, don't think you can really control everything!"
As he watched the figures of the Class C members disappear, Aragaki Shun narrowed his eyes. His keen intuition, brought by his talent, allowed him to sense a deep malice emanating from them.
It's not exactly dangerous, but like finding a cockroach in the house, this kind of inexplicable trouble is always unpleasant.
"Heh~ Trying to pull those silly tricks again? You really never learn."
After marveling at Ryuen's indomitable spirit of never giving up despite repeated defeats, Aragaki Shun yawned nonchalantly, then turned and walked back with Kanzaki and Shibata.
Unlike the route they had taken, this time they took a longer detour, climbing over several steep slopes, until they came to Cave that looked as if it had been carved out of the deep mountain, resembling the gaping mouth of a monster.
Next to the Cave entrance, there were two makeshift toilets and a shower room, where a group of Class A students were tending to various supplies.
"This is the camp you had Ichinose and the others occupy ahead of time?" Kanzaki Ryuji carefully examined the Cave's surroundings, nodding with satisfaction after two minutes. "It's quite good, and the space is spacious enough to accommodate the forty-odd people from Class A."
"While on the cruise ship, the school told us to observe the meaningful sights on the island, which was actually to have us scout out suitable locations in advance."
After greeting Ichinose, Shiranami Chihiro, Shiina Hiyori, Aragaki Shun walked over to Chie Hoshinomiya and asked her to take out the Key Card that had already been made.
"Of the 11 more prominent outposts I saw, this one should be the most suitable location to establish a camp."
"It's not just because of the Cave. I remember there are several other facilities not far away: a High Tower at the highest point and a Cabin directly below the cliff. I need to capture those two strongholds as soon as possible."
After saying that, he called over a dozen boys and a few girls with good physical fitness, and prepared to go to the High Tower to occupy the high ground.
That facility was clearly built by the school specifically to overlook the entire island; it must be taken over as soon as possible, as it will be easier to find other hidden strongholds from its elevated position.
"Are you alright?" Ichinose Honami asked with a worried expression. "You have to run across the island 19 times in seven days, and you'll have to be careful of all sorts of difficult terrain. Aragaki-kun, you really need to be careful."
"Don't worry, this kind of situation is nothing to me."
The Leader of Class A casually instructed, "Ichinose, you stay here and lead half of the class to build a campsite and prepare necessities such as food and water."
"The rest of you will follow me under Kanzaki's guidance. After we capture the High Tower, I'll need your help to find hidden strongholds throughout the island."
"Oh, right, prepare another set of basic supplies worth 100 temporary points. Katsuragi from Class B will be bringing people to pick them up later; just give them to them then."
Seeing that they understood, the Leader of Class A no longer hesitated and immediately took the lead in running towards the High Tower.
Because the facility was not far from the Cave, Aragaki Shun found the corresponding location in just a few minutes by following the scenery he had noted on the cruise ship.
After climbing up the platform that could accommodate four people, they successfully swiped their cards on the checkpoint device. For the next eight hours, this facility would be entirely for use by Class A.
"This is indeed the highest point on the island. Even with forests and other environmental obstructions, you can still observe a lot of information from this vantage point."
Satisfied, Aragaki Shun stood atop the High Tower and surveyed the island several times. Through this unique perspective, he discovered that he had found two more outposts that he hadn't discovered before.
"Himeno, your eyesight is better. I'll leave it to you to stay here and observe the surroundings, and instruct Kanzaki and Shibata to find those more hidden strongholds. I still need to go and capture the strongholds we've already found."
"I understand!" Himeno Yuki nodded seriously. When it came to serious matters, the girl's attitude was always trustworthy.
"I think we need to leave someone here to guard it. This High Tower is a strategic location to some extent, and we absolutely cannot let Class B or Class C take it away."
While observing the activity around the island, Kanzaki Ryuji offered his suggestions.
This Uninhabited Island Exam has been forcibly changed by Aragaki Shun into a base capture battle.
As the driving force behind the plan, Class A is now able to stay one step ahead of their opponents and make some arrangements in advance. For example, Class B and Class C may have just finished making the Key Card when they have already occupied the two strongholds of the Cave and the High Tower.
But once all the strongholds are found in the first round, the exam will enter a fierce battle for control, and the High Tower might be secretly occupied by the leader of Class B or Class C at any time.
Kanzaki felt this wouldn't work. The importance of this vantage point was obvious, and if possible, it would be best to maintain it until the end of the exam.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to leave people here to guard the area at all times.
"Okay, Kanzaki, make the arrangements. Have people take turns staying behind, at least three people each time, so they can look out for each other."
To make the High Tower a useful reconnaissance tool, it's necessary to keep people here at all times to observe the movements around the island.
Moreover, the three strongholds— the Cave, the High Tower, and the Cabin— are not far apart, so there's no need to worry about anything happening to the people left behind.
"You guys go find the hidden strongholds first. I'll go check out the Cabin first, and then I'll circle the island and take over all the known strongholds."
"When searching for hidden outposts, it's best to go in groups of three. Once you find an outpost, collect the supplies inside first, then find a conspicuous spot nearby and wait for me to pass by."
After giving the instructions, Aragaki Shun walked alone along the cliff.
Since he observed the Cabin directly below the cliff from the cruise ship, there should theoretically be a route nearby that allows him to detour down.
Sure enough, after walking about ten meters, Aragaki Shun found a ladder in a hidden corner by instinct.
After grabbing the ladder and trying to pull it hard to make sure it was sturdy enough, the Leader of Class A used the ladder to descend the cliff.
After climbing to the very end, Aragaki Shun indeed found the Cabin he had seen on the cruise ship earlier.
If nothing unexpected happens, this is a place that cannot be reached without prior discovery before landing on the island; it was probably specially arranged by the school for staff accommodation.
After all, there are many artificial facilities built by schools on this island. Not to mention anything else, the fruits and vegetables alone cannot be grown in just one or two days.
Therefore, Advanced Nurturing definitely require the involvement of professionals.
After swiping the checkpoint device at the entrance of the Cabin to confirm his exclusive rights for the next eight hours, Aragaki Shun decisively opened the door and began looting the supplies inside.